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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2011 forsythnews.com | FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS
Constitution provides
the foundation for
limited
In the absence of gov¬
ernment, In anarchy sets in.
the presence of an all
powerful government you
have totalitarianism. In
both cases a man’s atten¬
tion must be focused on
attending to the immedia¬
cies of survival. In the
former, dangers lay
around any comer as
everyone fends for them¬
selves. In the latter, dan¬
gers lay around every
comer as the government
controls and sees all.
When your entire exis¬
tence is focused on sur¬
vival it’s difficult to focus
on things like science,
leisure or any of the myr¬
iad other things we take
for granted in civilized
society.
As such, the natural
condition of human inter¬
action demands gover¬
nance of some sort in
order to have more than
simple survival.
Governments, typically
starting small, tend to
move from one side of
the control spectrum to
the other as they slowly
begin to accumulate
power. Eventually a gov¬
ernment will become suf¬
ficiently oppressive that
its subjects revolt. How
that revolt plays itself out
can take many forms. In
some cases it’s an even
more brutal regime —
think Iran in some
cases it can bring a return
to anarchy — the French
Revolution — or in oth¬
ers it brings about some¬
thing in between — the
signing of the Magna
Carta.
It is from this cauldron
of constantly morphing
social and governmental
forms America was bom.
After the misstep of the
Articles of
Confederation, the nation
found its footing with the
Constitution. The beauty
of the Constitution was
that it was written specifi¬
cally to limit the power
and reach of the govern¬
ment while giving that
same government suffi¬
cient power to accom¬
plish the tasks delegated
to it. Unfortunately, over
the last 75 years govern¬
ment has blasted through
many of those fundamen-
Valentines Day brings
memories of mother
1 always think of my
Mother around
Valentine’s Day more
than any other time
besides Mother’s Day. It
wasn’t that she was such
a sweetheart. She was
tough, stem, and decisive
on many occasions. She
would even insist 1 send
everyone in my class a
Valentine if 1 sent one.
Even the boy I could not
stand because he wanted
to be my boyfriend and I
didn’t want him.
Mother was a real
’ stickler for rules. It was
“thank you," “you are
welcome,” "yes sir” and
“no sir,” even if we
thought they were not
necessary. There were
always rules to follow
around our house. You
remember the good ones.
Don’t leave home without
clean underwear, you
might have an accident.
Take your school shoes
and clothes off immedi¬
ately after you get home
• and put on play clothes.
What she meant was
work clothes.
Mother didn’t have
wings like an angel. Her
hands and arms were
strong and sturdy from
hard work growing up.
We had a flower shop and
a greenhouse in
Cartersville and hard
C
VINCE COYNER
Columnist
tal limitations.
The result has been far
too much regulation.
Today there are more
government regulations
than at any point in our
history. It’s not a new
phenomenon, however. In
1934 alone, the federal
government generated
over 10,(XX) pages of new
law, four times what had
been generated during the
combined history of the
country's first 150 years
of existence. Today laws
with thousands of pages
seem to be as common as
the Sunday paper.
The problem with all of
this? It’s the polar oppo¬
site of what our country
was founded on in the
first place. When it
comes to the foundation
of the United States, the
Declaration of
Independence is the why
and the Constitution is
the how. When govern¬
ment expands across the
control spectrum to the
point where it regulates
(read: controls) every¬
thing its citizens do, then
the ability of the citizens
to pursue the original
intent of the founders
(Life, Liberty and the
Pursuit of Happiness) is
lost. And it’s not neces¬
sarily the laws them¬
selves but their breadth
and incomprehensibility.
When one has a tax code
that is 60,(XX) pages, the
sheer uncertainty of what
is legal and the fear of
penalty for making the
wrong guess can be
debilitating.
At what point does a
government cross the
threshold to be consid¬
ered totalitarian? If it
stops you from speaking?
Stops you from reading
or writing books? Stops
you from practicing your
religion? Of course!
However, what if it
decides it can tell you
how and where you must
spend your money?
3 Jj£k
JULIANNE BOLING
Columnist
work was the item of
every day. Not only fill¬
ing orders and delivering
them, but the greenhouse
was hard, dirty work.
Mother also had a house
to keep and meals to cook
until we were big enough
to help.
She had the best eye¬
sight of anyone 1 know
and she could also read
your mind or facial
expressions. Her best
trick was being able to
detect by the look on your
face a lie before you even
said it. Her eyesight was
20/20 from the front of
the church to the back.
She sang in the choir and
could see any sign of mis¬
behavior on the back seat
even through the people
in front of us.
I have to admit my
Mother was a magician.
She could find money to
buy things we really
could not afford but we
had our heart set on. She
could make an old dress
look new and different for
Easter and a prom dress
Seizes citizen’s property
on a whim without pro¬
viding you with just com¬
pensation? Suggests you
might be a threat to
national security simply
because you once served
in its military? It makes
laws then exempts its
friends from obeying
them? If the government
can do just about any¬
thing it wants, is it any
less totalitarian just
because its storm troopers
are not yet kicking down
your door?
Americans have been
bequeathed the greatest
gift that any nation has
ever been given. Our
Constitution provides an
unparalleled framework
for a nation to grow while
almost perfectly shelter¬
ing its citizens from the
chaos of anarchy or the
choke-hold of totalitari¬
anism. Over the last 75
years, however, as
Americans have been
beguiled by the siren
song of government pro¬
tection from all manner
of risk, the Constitution
has been allowed to fade
into a quaint anachronis¬
tic set of guidelines rather
than a solid foundation
for the rule of law. A con¬
stitution is only as strong
as those who believe in
its words and understand
that it is a framework for
letting citizens pursue
happiness within the bal¬
ance between anarchy
and dictatorship.
Have we as nation
become so enamored
with government largesse
and “protections” that we
arc unable to see that the
distance between a gov¬
ernment that recognizes
no limits on its law mak¬
ing is not so far from one
that will use its police
powers to enforce the
resulting legislation? The
Tea Party movement sug¬
gests there remain some
who recognize the value
of a strong constitution
and limited government.
Hopefully the energy
from 2010 will be sus¬
tained through 2012 and
beyond.
Forsyth County resident
Vince Coyner is a regular
columnist.
appear out of nowhere.
She could put a full meal
on the table in a matter of
a few minutes and make a
cake for a grieving family
in less than an hour, and
deliver it.
Like all kids growing
up, I didn’t always think
my mother was right, but
she was always the boss,
with dad as back up. She
didn’t become a perfect
mother until I was grown
and had children of my
own. Then I realized that
mothering was not an
easy job all the time. She
could crowd into one day
enough mothering to do
four kids a lifetime.
The idea of Valentine’s
Day is to show love and
speak love to those
important to you. It
includes those boyfriends
and girlfriends that may
be here today and gone
tomorrow. It may include
classmates who are really
not high on your priority
list, and could include
some teachers who are
too tough to be likeable.
Valentine’s is also a time
to tell your parents they
make life good and you
appreciate them. Happy
Valentine’s Day!
Cumming resident Julianne
Boling’s column appears
each Sunday.
Despite recent successes, some
high hurdles ahead for Obama
By Carl Leubsdorf *
The Dallas Morning News
President Barack Obama has had a
good few weeks, but political perils lie
ahead.
The bipartisan tax-cut extension
boosted both the economy and his
approval level. His expression of nation¬
al grief over the TUcson shootings drew
almost universal praise. His 2011 agen¬
da sought both common ground and
contrasts with opposition Republicans.
Obama also has carefully walked a
difficult line in coping with Egypt’s
governmental crisis, simultaneously
pursuing potentially incompatible goals
of greater democracy and continued
strong ties with a longtime U.S. ally.
But lest his strategists grow compla¬
cent, the least of these issues contain
ticking time bombs that could pose sig¬
nificant political problems at inoppor¬
tune moments for his 2012 re-election
bid:
• The Egyptian situation remains per¬
ilous, and the fallout could create even
greater dangers throughout the volatile
Middle East.
• The two-year extension of the Bush
tax cuts means Obama and Congress
will have to cope with the issue again,
right before the 2012 balloting.
• The health reform law is headed for
a Supreme Court showdown that could
undercut implementation of Obama’s
most cherished achievement.
From the start, Egypt’s uprisings pre¬
sented a dilemma with no easy answers
and only limited U.S. leverage.
Underscoring that difficulty has been
the contrast between the perception that
Obama was pushing President Hosni
Mubarak toward the exits and the signs
that he would have accepted delay as
long as it ended with greater democracy.
That leaves Obama vulnerable to
charges that he’s either turning his back
on a loyal ally or failing to stand for our
own democratic ideals.
The long-term verdict depends on
whether the result is a relatively friendly
Egyptian government or an Islamic fun¬
damentalist state that ceases to be a U.S.
ally and rejects the three-decade-old
peace treaty with Israel, thus threaten¬
ing greater instability.
Another danger: The democratic
movement that began in Tunisia and
spread to Egypt could threaten the sta¬
bility of pro-U.S. governments in
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Jordan and Saudi Arabia, still the source
of much U.S. oil.
Only the more dire outcome would
likely cause Obama significant domestic
political damage. The next tax-cut battle
and court challenges to the health law
pose far greater risks.
While the tax compromise gave
Republicans their cherished reductions
and Obama a potentially significant new
economic boost, the two-year limit
ensured a return engagement in 2012.
Assuming a reasonable economic
recovery, Obama will have less reason
to bow again to the GOP argument
against raising taxes in a recession and
more budgetary reason to limit further
extension.
But opposing a tax-cut extension dur¬
ing a political campaign could be tricky,
since Obama’s GOP rival surely would
portray that as a tax increase, even if he
tried to limit it to the small proportion
of Americans earning more than
$250,(XX) a year.
Obama’s biggest potential trap by far
• stems from legal challenges to the
health law, which the Supreme Court
could well decide in spring 2012.
Besides challenging the constitutionali¬
ty of requiring all Americans to buy
health insurance, which helps finance
the law’s benefits, the lawsuits are
spurring newly elected Republican crit¬
ics in many states to resist full imple¬
mentation.
A court decision barring the individ¬
ual mandate would force the administra¬
tion to seek revisions, presumably from
a Congress in which Republicans con
trol the House and can prevent action in
the Senate.
The provision does not kick in until
2014, so the result might depend on the
2012 election.
A Republican victory could doom the
law, but even Obama’s re-election
wouldn’t necessary settle matters, since
Republicans could well hold at least one
house, if not both.
Either way. the issue that bedeviled
the Democrats in 2010 could do so
again next year, though the implementa¬
tion of some benefits and an expanded
electorate could produce a different
electoral outcome.
Carl P. Leubsdorf is the former Washington
bureau chief of the Dallas Morning News.
You may e-mail him: carl.p.leubsdorf
@gmail.com.